Eye Eat Healthy: Cold Thai Melon Gazpacho

Mark Bittman nutrient-dense fresh vegetables chilled gazpacho recipes are summer-perfect, particularly for those with visiting relatives including grown children and grandchildren.

Gazpacho: Not Hot and Not a Bother“Gazpacho is so easy that children old enough to manage a food processor or a blender can make it themselves. But whether or not you have pint-size sous chef children at your disposal, a recipe that requires minimal effort and in most instances no heat is always a good thing this time of year.

“So, here is that ubiquitous summer standby done a few ways that you’re probably familiar with and a bunch more that you’re probably not. The recipes here amount to little more than lists of ingredients and quantities, because the method doesn’t bear repeating 12 times: Combine everything in a blender or food processor, process to your desired texture, chill in the refrigerator if you like, garnish and eat.

“You do need to decide a few things, and texture is one; for a completely smooth soup, turn on the machine and let it run. If you prefer some chunks, pulse the machine. This works best with a food processor, or if you’re a stickler for precision, pure about half of the ingredients, chop the rest by hand and stir them together.

“Olive oil is an integral part of gazpacho (the fat has to come from somewhere), so I tend to gravitate toward the upper limit, but none of these soups will suffer tremendously if you use less.

“Most of these gazpacho recipes include bread, which should be day-old and crustless, though defying either or both of those won’t kill you. Keep in mind that the colder you serve gazpacho, the less salty it will taste; you can intentionally over salt before chilling, but I would just salt to taste at the last minute. It makes things even simpler.” —​Mark Bittman

We recommend opening and saving the link to Mark’s article and his fabulous red and green gazpacho recipes featured in the July 30, 2014, New York Times Sunday Magazine We promise one or all of these unique recipes will provide summer entertaining nutrient-dense family fun.